Saturday, April 18, 2009

Genius is Genius.

I haven't blogged in a while, much to the disgust of Gab (whom hasn't blogged either) so here is my "make-up" blog.

Little - to nothing - interesting has really happened this week, or last week infact except for me discovering iTunes Genius.
Do you know what that is? For those who don't, it is an application on your iTunes.
Here is a step by step play on how to use Genius.

1. Select a song, for example, Brianstorm - The Arctic Monkeys.
2. Click the tiny star at the bottom of the iTunes screen which, when the mouse is dragged over the logo, says GENIUS.
3. iTunes scans the internet at lightning speeds to find songs that sound similar or are by similar artists to the song/artist you have selected.
4. iTunes finds these songs on your iTunes and makes a playlist of 25 songs it has found which you may find simlar to the song you originally selected.

Personally, I think its pretty amazing.
Its crazy accurate too. For arguments sake, I am actually going to Genuis "Brianstorm"... here is the playlist I got.

  1. Brianstorm - Artctic Monkeys
  2. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
  3. Golden Skans - Klaxons
  4. The Age of the Understatement - Last Shadow Puppets
  5. Standing in the Way of Control - The Gossip
  6. In the Morning - Razorlight
  7. Same Jeans - The View
  8. The Prayer - Bloc Party
  9. Great DJ - The Ting Tings
  10. Monster - The Automatic
  11. Fans - Kings of Leon
  12. Never Miss a Beat - Kaiser Chiefs
  13. Juicebox - The Strokes
  14. Whistle for the Choir - The Fratellis
  15. It's Not Over Yet - Klaxons
  16. Blue Orchid - White Stripes
  17. Banquet - Bloc Party
  18. Wide Awake - The Twang
  19. Before I Fall to Pieces - Razorlight
  20. Old Yellow Bricks - Arctic Monkeys
  21. Last Night - The Strokes
  22. On Call - Kings of Leon
  23. Do You Want To? - Franz Ferdinand
  24. Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives
  25. Lets Make Love and Listen to Death From Above - CSS

If you haven't heard of any of those bands, don't be shocked. They are mostly obscure English shoegazers. Just trust me when I say, all these songs and artists are in some way similar or complimenting to the Arctic Monkeys. Its actually an amazing playlist and again, I am very impressed by the power of technology.
Also, considering I have 3 Arctic Monkey's albums on my iTunes, only 1 other song by them is chosen, so it is not a cop out at all.
Songs I haven't heard in ages, or even, ever, pop up every now and then too which is a nice surprise because most of them are quite good and I discover a new song which I have owned for however long.
iTunes also has a bar on the far right of other songs/artists who would fit into this playlist which you do not own. It allows you to sample the songs and then purchase if you please. Amazing.

The only complaint I have is when I selected An Horse, (indie Australian two piece), I was given the ultimate lezzy jam. Tegan and Sara, The Gossip, Kaki King, Bikini Kill and The Sounds.
As much as I like all these bands, its a bit of a typecast isn't it?
Just because one band has a lesbian member, they must sound like other lesbian member bands.
I had to go and listen to KISS and Guns 'n Roses afterwards to even it out.

All in all, iTunes has finally done something right. Loves it.

On another note, my band, The Quarters, has a blog.
www.thequartersband.blogspot.com follow that too.

Friday, April 3, 2009

I could be a more interesting Hannah Montana.

So I am reading two books right now.

1. Kurt Cobains Journals
and
2. Miles to Go - Miley Cyrus.

Yeah, a bit of a contrast. 
Safe to say I don't get confused about which I am reading and which information I have obtained from which book. 
It got me thinking though, If you can write such a lengthy biography at 15/16 imagine what Kurt Cobain's would have been like now?

This year marks 15 years since Kurt Cobain's death.
This year marks 16 years since Miley Cyrus' birth. 

Given his would be like, triple the size of Cyrus', I wonder if it would contain a radically different story line.
Sure, as much as I wish to believe, Miley is not a herion addict (well I'm not at the end of the book yet so this statement could still be retracted). 
But Kurt Cobain was a voice of a generation. He was a megastar, a pioneer, similar in the way Miley/Hannah Montana is?
Ok, I use the word similar loosely.

Its just totally weird to think, 15 years ago, teenagers were all about their angst and rebellion, trying to develop some form of revolution led by music and inspired by Kurt Cobain and the grunge era which changed the industry.
Now? We're reading biographies and going stalker crazy for 16 year old sugar coated popstars whos greatest obstacle is finding time between multi-billion dollar sell out tours to film an a spin off to her award winning television program.
Thats pretty fucked. 

I think if Kurt Cobain was alive, he'd be pretty pissed.

On another note, I went to V FESTIVAL yesterday.

Yeah, thats the Kills (www.myspace.com/thekills). Front row.
Probably the best of the whole day but I am bias because they were my favourites on the whole line up.

Also on the bill was Duffy, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Jenny Lewis, Vanilla Ice, The Human League, Madness, The Do and a bunch of other bands who I didn't watch.

We arrived just in time to catch the end of Duffy's set which was amazing. She was wearing short shorts and a tank top. We were wearing jeans and sweaters. Its bizarre to think that what we in Australia consider cold, a lot of other countries consider warm. It was close to rain and she was dressed for the beach. None the less, she was amazing.

We accidently walked in on The Do while we were searching for toilets and beer. I'm glad we did because they were amazing, I can't turn them off now.

Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) played a great set too. We were too energetic to sit and watch the whole thing, especially since Shaun Sha Bang found Twister at the Coke Zero tent but we could hear her behind us and she was great. 

I got to hear Razorlight do "In the Morning" which was cool. Other then that I didn't stay for the set. I did hear that Johnny Borrell ran out into the crowd though.

I rocked up early for the Kills set, equip with my new Kills t-shirt which I will probably not take off all week. Allison was smoking up a storm, I think in total she lit up about 4 times. She seemed pretty spaced too. She still put on a great show and inspired me to get some gold boots and grow my bangs all the way to my nose. No Kate Moss in sight although many people told me she was in the vicinity. 

Kaiser Chiefs were sick. They only played a few songs I didn't know which is interesting considering I own none of their albums. I guess everyone just likes to cover their songs (Lily Allen, Paramore, Cut Copy). 

I saw, maybe 4 seconds of Snow Patrol and even that bored me. The crowd was massive for them though. There was apparently 20,000 punters on the day. That was obvious during the Killers set because they were all there. Surprisingly, I actually didn't hate the Killers. They played all the songs I knew which was nice and I spent all of "Human" dancing with strangers instead of making my way to the toilet.

All in all, I'd go back next year with the promise of an equally diverse lineup and more toilet facilities. 
Seriously, it was gross. We were sitting against a wall behind all the food stands and there was boys coming up all night peeing around our sitting circle and the gates surrounding. We had to move everything so it wouldn't get drenched in urine. 

Needless to say, I showered extra long, just in case, when I got home.



Sunday, March 29, 2009

How do the homeless obtain wheelchairs?

My other sister got a blog the other day after much peer pressure.
www.domfoolery.blogspot.com
I actually like it, probably because its her talking smack about Gab.

However, due to high demand (from Caitlyn) I blog again.

Walking around Spencer Street last week on my lunch break when I found myself crossing the road with a "wheelchair bum". 
How the hell did a homeless person obtain a wheelchair?
Did he pay for it by selling drawings he was doing on the sidewalk with his pee?
I mean, you could tell he was homeless, I'm not just being mean to a man in a wheelchair, I could see the bugs crawling on his skin and he was wearing 2 different shoes, he was homeless.
He was wheeling across the road to meet up with two more "wheelchair bums", so now they have a gang? 
Imagine if they chased you! I don't know if I would be running from them or the smell. 
I didn't care that there was a cluster of homeless men in wheelchairs, the thing that shocked me was what the original wheelchair bum was doing.
He was wearing a sweater with the double hand pockets in the front, like a hoodie with the joined hand warmer pocket thing. In his hand warmer pocket thing he had dozens, and I mean, dozens of cigarette butts. 
You're already homeless man, why do you need to go out and purposely make yourself smell worse then you already do!  

What the fuck?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Staying connected with people I pretty much hate.

My sister got a blog today.

http://www.gabisunoriginal.blogspot.com/.

Have a read. The title says it all though. (Just kidding Gab, now you should link me).


I got my car back. It keeps making funny noises so I am thinking it may not be entirely safe to drive just yet. However, when I got in it, it had a funny smell and all the seats were sitting as far back as possible. It was towed to the mechanics, the last person to drive it was me and all the work that needed to be done was operated under the hood. Why were all my seats back and the car smell like musk?
Mechanic sex! thats disgusting but the only thing I can conclude. I feel like I should have plastic bags in the seat.

I hate facebook.
People I never spoke too have started to add me as their "friend".
Do we hang out? Do we share clothes and talk about boys? No, we're not friends, even in cyberspace.
I guess cyberspace opens a new definition of "friendship". People whom you have met, one time, maybe two? then there are people who are "friends" of your "friends" they are the worst cyber friends.
Just because I have something in common with someone you know doesnt mean that we will have something in common with each other.

I think the worst part is when people you hate and never talk too have like, 49 common friends as you and then you check who they are and they are people that you both never spoke too in high school! Since when is it okay to be friends online and not in real life? I still hate and I'm pretty sure you still hate me.

When you see these people in the street or at the pub can you officially speak to them on a friendly basis? tell them you've missed them and you like their sweater? no, you cannot, I learnt that the hard way. The worst part is, even though said person shrugged me off, the didn't delete me from their facebook friends!

The more facebook friends you have the cooler you are? I thought that was myspace so you could add heaps of hack bands and look like you are super scene. Facebook was supposed to be a more personal network.
And now you can see exactly what everyone says to everyone else, how is that personal? I can see when you have been bitching about your friends, they can even see it!

Becoming a fan of something, whats that about? You can become a fan of dirt, as in the mineral, not the show. In real life you wouldn't be a fan of "dirt". Would you go to a Dirt Convention? Maybe if you were a gardener or something but because its funny, you are a Facebook Fan of Dirt.

Still, I am friends with everyone from my graduation class, and the one below me and I am a fan of Skittles and Cheese, I just cannot get enough of the pointlessness.

Don't add me. SJ x

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I Blame Twilight.

Not having a car is painful. I am currently missing the Press Colour show.
It gives me more time dwell and hate people, what I like to do best.
It also keeps me locked inside when I have things to do.

I found out the timing belt or whatever was broken, possibly a costly fix. I find out tomorrow and hopefully receive the bloody piece of junk back.

I start working in the city tomorrow which involves an hour train ride with the hope it doesnt get delayed and I am late for my first day. Perhaps I will grab the one that gets me there 40 minutes early. That also makes me an extreme eager beaver. This week has taught me not to trust machines - ever.

I came home today to find Caitlyn laying in my bed, needless to say, I was pretty shocked. I don't remember leaving her there. She was, however, visiting to borrow my New Moon book. Another person on the Twilight bandwagon.

I hate all you little bitches who think that everyone who has started to read Twilight after the film was released is a sell out. Shouldn't you be happy that because of us "sell outs" there is enough money to make the following films and publish more bullshit "behind the scene" books.
I think you're all just greedy little bitches who need to suck it up. Twilight actually mostly sucks anyway. Read a real book or watch a real vampire movie, like Buffy.

On another note.


This is I Blame Coco.
www.myspace.com/iblamecoco.

I'm not sure how I came across her but I am thankful to whichever higher power led me there.

"I Blame Coco" (the song) and "The Constant"
are stand out tracks which are apparently coming out on an album she is currently recording in Jamaca. Thats pretty sweet.
She's Stings daughter, I found that out after I found her.

Anyway, thats pretty much all I have to say this evening. Oh, Rhiannon, I mentioned you. Enjoy the glory.

The Sarah Silverman Show is about to start. Last week she was a lesbian, this week, something regarding children's benefits and batteries.

x SJ

Monday, March 23, 2009

Fuck Karma.

Dear blog, 

I don't usually use the internet for much more then social networking, ticket purchases and celebrity gossip until my sisters, whom I am yet to thank, linked me to the most amazing website I had ever read.

www.fmylife.com -  you may have heard of it.

Basically, people from all over the globe post their embarrassing and humiliating stories for everyone else to laugh at. 

For three days straight I read every single post on the whole website. People discovering they were adopted when taking blood tests, being walked in on during sexual activities with the cousin you didn't know you had and (my personal favourites) being dumped by your boyfriend - for your brother.
This website is full of them. 

Even if they are false, I don't care! 90% of this shit would make amazing screenplays! They are utterly tragic! I'm pretty sure the idea for Star Wars came from this one...

Today, I found out the girl I have been sleeping with is my biological sister...then my best friend was killed by a stormtrooper. FLM 

I think karma came around.

Today, my car broke down in the middle lane of the highway during peak hour in the factory district. Fuck My Life.

It did restore my faith in humanity, I'll give the experience that. Two men pulled over and helped me get my car on the side of the road. If I was stronger and less intimidated I would repay the favor to someone someday. 

Its going to cost me lots of money to repair the hunk of junk. Goodbye New York.

x SJ